NeTS: Medium: Reconfigurable Antennas and Optimized Multi-channel MIMO Designs for DSA Systems with a Broad Frequency Coverage

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Dominated by mobile video traffic, the exponential growth of wireless data is placing severe demand on the radio frequence (RF) spectrum. The role of spectrum as a critical economic growth engine was recently highlighted in the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) report, which recommended creating 'the first shared-use spectrum superhighways.' The FCC has set in motion several initiatives that aim at identifying underutilized portions of the licensed spectrum and exploring new models for spectrum sharing among different types of users. In this project, the PIs propose to address the feasibility of dynamic spectrum access (DSA) operation over a large swath of the spectrum, encompassing the UHF portion of the TV White Spaces (470-698 MHz segment), the 3.5 GHz radar band, as well as other bands in the 1 to 4.4 GHz range that may later become candidates for DSA operation. If successful, this project is expected to have a transformational impact on many wireless communication systems, including extended-range wireless LANs, regional wireless area networks, wireless sensor systems, and coexisting cellular/WLAN systems (e.g., LTE-U and WiFi).The research agenda includes novel designs for a small form-factor reconfigurable antenna element that can operate over this frequency range, advanced antenna-circuit configurations for tunable narrowband carrier aggregation in the UHF TVWS segment, antenna configurations for supporting polarization diversity in MIMO-based DSA, optimized price-based cognitive MIMO (CMIMO) precoders that are founded in game theoretic techniques, and scheduling mechanisms for network-wide CMIMO operation. Optimizations at both the signal level (via MIMO precoding matrices) as well as the antenna level (via highly tunable small form-factor reconfigurable antennas) will be performed. The project also includes a comprehensive educational plan to further broaden its impact, including integrating research with undergraduate and graduate education, recruiting and outreach to minority and under-represented students, Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs), disseminating research data and findings through open access, and outreach to society through open-lab days and other activities.